I have a confession to make: I tend to be brutally honest. I don’t mince words or sugarcoat things. I’m perfectly capable of doing both—I just choose when and where to use those skills.
And when not to.
I’ve always been like this, so I don’t see it as a big deal.
But according to the internet—which, of course, is also brutally honest and always correct—people like me are rude and selfish. Supposedly, that honesty comes from frustration, poor social skills, and/or insecurity.
I’ve never really thought about it this way, so I’ve been mulling it over for a few weeks now.
After careful consideration, I’ve reached a conclusion.
I have stellar social skills…except for when I’m anxious in public and don’t know what to do with my hands.
Other than those moments, stellar! So obviously it can’t be that.
Like anyone else, I have moments of insecurity and frustration, but I don’t feel that my honesty comes from either of those things—especially since I’m always honest, but I’m not always frustrated or insecure. If that were the case, I would expect my honesty to come and go.
Since I don’t believe my honesty comes from a negative place, I’ve recently decided it may actually be a superpower. And yes, by “recently” I mean right now.
I treat my super-honesty like a superpower. I’m very careful about when and where I use it.
After all, we all know from Spider-Man: “With great power comes great responsibility.”
If you ask me my opinion, I’m going to tell you the truth. But because I know people don’t always want to hear the truth, I’ll usually ask if you’re sure you want my honest opinion. And I’ll probably warn you that you may not like my answer.
Sometimes people insist they want to hear the truth anyway. Other times they quickly change their mind.
Which is fine…except for one teeny, tiny issue.
If the person suddenly decides they don’t want to hear the truth, I develop an incredibly strong urge to say it anyway.
Sometimes I can push that urge to the back of my brain. But other times it becomes almost an obsession, and I feel like I have to say it.
But I have a fail-safe plan…I can say anything to my bestie without judgment, and the same goes for her. We’ve been friends for 35 years, so it’s obviously working. Once I say whatever awful thing my brain has brewed up, I can move on and stop thinking about it.
And since I didn’t make the comment to the person it’s about, there’s no guilt and no hurt feelings.
But my bestie and I can’t be together 24/7, so I have a few stand-ins: my hubby JP and my sister Kris.
The stuff I tell them is tame compared to the things I say to my bestie.
An example of my terribly behaved brain occurred while Kris and I were traveling. We were standing in line at Disneyland Paris.
Just a quick note—I’m using this example because my sister said I should use this story in my blog. So if you’re going to judge anyone, it’s Kris’s fault. And since I’m a great little sister, I ALWAYS do as she tells me.
So we’re standing in line, and there’s a small family several groups ahead of us. The dad is holding a little girl who looks to be about a year old, while the mum stands beside them. The little girl is looking around, just doing little kid things like pointing and babbling.
When she turned toward us, I was shocked by how big her nose was.
So, as a kindness, I alerted Kris.
Who, of course, needed to see.
I warned her in advance because I didn’t want her to react loudly when she saw the nose…
…and the baby attached to it.
For a few minutes, it seemed like the baby knew we were talking about her, because she wouldn’t look toward us.
Finally, she turned our way.
Upon seeing the nose, Kris uttered a very loud “Whoa.”
Crisis averted, right?
Because clearly no one heard her loud reaction.
So you see, clearly my super-honesty is only used for good and the betterment of mankind…
Ok, ok, maybe that is not the best example of using my superpower wisely.
But—we all have those days where the temptation to misbehave is stronger than the temptation to behave.
And in my defense, I merely tried to control the situation. I didn’t say anything.
Kris did.
Loudly.
Very loudly.
⭐ If this post made you laugh—or reminded you of someone who is painfully honest—tap like and share it with a friend.
⭐ Enjoy humor, honest reflections, and the occasional mischievous story? Subscribe so you never miss a new post from Brain Fog & Brilliance.
Brain Fog & Brilliance 
Leave a Reply